“Dreams from His Younger Self: Barack Obama as a Proto-Feminist and Race Man”

• In Event: The US Presidency through the Lens of Race Relations

Abstract

This paper uses archival letters from a young Barack Obama to his college girlfriend in conversation with his later work (Dreams from My Father, The Audacity of Hope, and selected speeches) to illumine President Obama’s formulation on his ideologies on race and gender. The archival record demonstrates that Obama started formulating his views on race and gender early and that his presidential actions on issues related to race and gender were consistent with the worldview he developed as a young man. The value of this archival data is its utility in helping to understand the trajectory of Obama’s rhetoric and policy positions as he assumed public office.

Author

• Andra Gillespie, Emory University